{"id":777046723,"date":"2026-08-27T08:54:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T11:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777046723"},"modified":"2026-08-27T08:54:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T11:54:26","slug":"malaysian-government-denies-issuing-new-gambling-licences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/malaysian-government-denies-issuing-new-gambling-licences","title":{"rendered":"Malaysian government denies issuing new gambling licences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Finance Ministry has insisted that all permits currently in force are based on approvals granted in the 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Malaysia.- The Finance Ministry has rejected claims that the federal government has issued new gambling licences or allowed an increase in gambling premises. In a statement on Thursday, the ministry said the licences and permits currently in force are based on approvals granted in the 1990s. It also said strict conditions have been imposed on licence holders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The clarification came after Kedah Chief Minister Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor raised concerns over gambling licences in the state. On August 12, a Federal Court rejected Kedah\u2019s request<\/a> to appeal a ruling preventing the state from refusing to renew licences for pool betting and lottery businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ministry said the current government reduced special lottery draws from 22 to eight per year after taking office at the end of 2022. It added that its policy is to limit licensed gambling activities, maintain strict regulation and step up enforcement against unlicensed and online gambling.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Facebook accounts for 78% of online gambling content flagged in Malaysia<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Finance Ministry has insisted that all permits currently in force are based on approvals granted in the 1990s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":777046726,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Malaysia's Finance Ministry has clarified that no new gambling licenses have been issued, with all current permits stemming from 1990s approvals, refuting claims of market expansion. The government has reduced special lottery draws and maintains a policy of strict regulation and enhanced enforcement against unlicensed and online gambling activities. This clarification follows a legal challenge from Kedah state regarding license renewals.","focusai_entities":"Finance Ministry, Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, Federal Court, Kedah","focusai_location":"Malaysia, Kedah","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), affiliate_publisher (0.75), marketing_crm (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.7), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.75), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Future Licensing Impact?","query":"What are the long-term implications of Malaysia's Finance Ministry's strict 'no new licenses' policy and enhanced enforcement on the growth trajectory and competitive landscape of the regulated gaming verticals within the country?"},{"label":"Kedah Ruling's Precedent?","query":"How does the Federal Court's rejection of Kedah's appeal regarding license renewals establish a precedent for federal versus state authority in gaming regulatory compliance and governance frameworks in Malaysia?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,16333],"tags":[23703,226],"class_list":["post-777046723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regulation-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-licence","tag-malaysia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777046723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777046723"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777046723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777046740,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777046723\/revisions\/777046740"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777046726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777046723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777046723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777046723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}